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Tumble: Waves
by Don Phipps
One can certainly appreciate the effort made by the members of Tumble to carve out a niche on Wave in the expanding and ever-changing world of jazz music. That said, however, there is a bit of disappointment. It's not that the group can be faulted for poor musicianship, but the readings in general are uninspired and ...
Roberto Magris Sextet: Sun Stone
by Jerome Wilson
Roberto Magris, the prolific Italian pianist who spends a lot of his time in America, has recorded with several different types of groups in his career. This is his first outing with a new straight--ahead sextet that includes Chicago legend Ira Sullivan on alto and soprano saxophones and flute, and it is a strong one.
Stick Men featuring David Cross: Panamerica: Live in Latin America
by Mark Sullivan
When Stick Men—Chapman Stick player Tony Levin, drummer Pat Mastelotto (both past and current King Crimson members) and Touch Guitarist Markus Reuter—embarked on a Latin American tour with guest electric violinist/keyboardist David Cross (best known for his time with King Crimson) they recorded all of the shows, intending to release a series of digital live albums. ...
Uwe Oberg, Joe Fonda, Lucía Martínez: Relight
by John Sharpe
The presence of bassist Joe Fonda guarantees an outward bound listen which still has some foothold in conventional tonality. On Relight, he joins a multinational threesome completed by German pianist Uwe Oberg and Berlin-based Spanish drummer Lucía Martínez, which stakes its claim at the confluence of jazz and free improvisation, in a concert from the 2019 ...
Lorenzo Feliciati & Michele Rabbia: Antikythera
by Don Phipps
Light, bouncy, funky, mysterious, cosmopolitan, chill, ambient—the music on Antikythera, an album by Lorenzo Feliciati and Michele Rabbia is all of these things. The album has an urban vibe, albeit a slow-motion one , with none of the jarring effects and noise that often accompany city living. Beyond handling the bass duties, Feliciati plays ...
Donna Khalife: Hope is the Thing with Feathers
by Ian Patterson
Two-and-a-half years after her powerful debut, Heavy Dance (Self- Produced, 2017), Lebanese double bassist and singer Donna Khalifé returns with another sparkling statement. It is not an especially long time between releases, but there are significant differences between the two recordings. Heavy Dance, with guitar and saxophone to the fore, was a frequently stormy affair of ...
Ivo Perelman / Matthew Shipp / William Parker / Bobby Kapp: Ineffable Joy
by John Sharpe
It can be hard not to reach for words like 'transcendent' when listening to Brazilian saxophonist Ivo Perelman. He balances his love of the upper registers with an unsentimental lyricism which is difficult to resist. For his ESP debut, Perelman reconvenes the trusted line-up from Heptagon (Leo, 2017) of long-standing associate pianist Matthew Shipp, bassist William ...
John Zorn: Nove Cantici per Francesco d'Assisi
by Don Phipps
Those who admire Spanish guitar music will greatly appreciate the beautiful airy set of compositions on Nove cantici per Francesco D'Assisi by John Zorn. Zorn, best known for his challenging, cerebral and complex avant-garde offerings, conjures up a set of pastoral tunes composed as part of a residency at New York's Frick Museum. The tunes feature ...
Tomasz Dąbrowski FREE4ARTS: When I Come Across
by Mark Sullivan
Polish trumpeter Tomasz Dąbrowski (who lives in Denmark) leads an empathetic Nordic quartet with FREE4ARTS, in their sophomore outing. As the group name implies, they play freely, favoring the rubato approach found in so many ECM recordings. Opening track “HPB" begins with new member guitarist Simon Krebs (replacing pianist Jacob Anderskov) and baritone saxophonist Sven Dam ...
Stan Kenton: A Kenton Trilogy, Part 2 / The Sound of Jazz
by Jack Bowers
The Sound of Jazz by the legendary Stan Kenton Orchestra follows Part 1 of a Kenton Trilogy, Dance Time, and hopefully precedes a third component yet to be named. Although Kenton has been gone for more than forty years (he died in August 1979), he has hardly been forgotten, with reissues of concert and studio sessions ...
